The invention relates to packages for windshield wiper blades and rubber refills for such blades, and particularly to a clamshell-like package member of transparent material.
A number of factors enter into the long and relatively thin packaging for windshield wiper blades. To conserve space, the package configuration generally follows the outline of the product, resulting in a cross-section of minimal height, a width of four to six times the height, and a considerable length. By way of example, the cross-section may be one-half to three-quarters of an inch high or thick, by one and one-half to three inches in width. Lengths may vary from fourteen to more than twenty inches.
Original equipment wiper blades are packaged (often in large multiples) for protection and convenience, e.g. the blades might be arranged in rows and layers in a box, separated by protective packing. However, the after-market for replacement wiper blades requires display and instruction features in individual packages, to attract and assist the less skilled and less informed vehicle owners. As a result, it has become customary to utilize wiper blade packages with transparent protective features, with some means to hang the long narrow packages on display racks, and/or stacked on shelves, with a printed card or the like having printed instructions as well as decoration and/or illustration. This type of package is, generally, a modified form of blister pack. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,896 issued Jan. 10, 1995.
Another factor is the need to package one or more adapters to facilitate connecting the pivot part of the wiper blade's primary lever to different end configurations of wiper arms. If the package cannot contain these adapters, they may have to be incorporated in small bags attached to a card which also functions as the main carrier of the packages, but does not surround and protect the wiper blade. This factor also applies to small optional accessory packages which the manufacturer may want to include.
The influence of these factors has in recent years led to packages which use a transparent plastic flattened tube-like carton as a major element of the package. In many instances such packages are, unfortunately, often damaged or destroyed during original opening and cannot be re-closed if desired.